Unless otherwise indicated herein, the approaches described in this section are not prior art to the claims in this application and are not admitted to be prior art by inclusion in this section.
Segmentation of digital images is a commonly performed operation, in which a targeted region of an image is defined and can be selected for manipulation, analysis, or other use separate from the original image. Various segmentation schemes are known in the art, and selection of the targeted region may be a largely automated process, a manual process, or a combination of both.
For example, while the process of segmenting organs or other visual structures in volumetric medical images is more and more automated, there are still applications in which the use of a manual input tool is preferred for segmenting an image. This is because a user can determine a particular biological or other structure in an image more reliably than an automated process can. However, completely manual definition of a segmented region demands careful attention by a user to prevent the introduction of segmentation artifacts and inaccuracies. For example, when a user manually traces the edge of a visual structure, such as an organ border, precisely following the edge can be problematic, particularly when a computer mouse is used as an input device; the large-scale hand and arm motions associated with using a mouse can produce traced edges that are jerky and imprecise.
In light of the above, there is a need in the art for a method of image segmentation that includes the convenience and repeatability of an automated process and the superior reliability of manual tracing techniques.